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Travel

Twelve tips for trips in 2018

Travel is educational, fun and a welcome change from the daily grind. Here are twelve stimulating tips for the new year in 2018 - one for each month.

January: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Go up 2962 meters above sea level - as high as possible in Germany, in a brand spanking new cable car: it opened on December 21, 2017, and can take up to 600 people an hour to the Zugspitze. From there, when the weather is good, there is a wonderful view of the state of Bavaria, which is celebrating the hundredth anniversary of its existence in 2018.

February: Pyeongchang

If Munich's bid to host the 23rd Winter Olympics had succeeded, you could just stay in Bavaria. But the South Korean city of Pyeongchang won out. So sports-lovers should head to northeast Asia. The Olympic Winter Games are taking place in this region for the third time, from February 9 to 23.

March: Nice

While people in the German carnival strongholds Cologne, Mainz and Düsseldorf will have celebrated in mid-February, and shivered as they did, a visit to Nice's carnival promises milder temperatures. Here the celebrations last until March 3 - but the beautiful city on the Côte d'Azur is always worth a trip, and ever since the attack in July 2016, it has been grateful for faithful visitors.

April: Valletta

In April the sun shines for an average eight hours a day on Malta. The good weather, beautiful beaches, and palaces and squares in the capital make the island a popular European travel destination. In Valletta's year as a European Capital of Culture, music, dance theatre and video art join those attractions. The city is sharing the title in 2018 with Leeuwarden in the Netherlands.

May: Trier

The city on the Moselle is considered the oldest in Germany. It was founded more than 2000 years ago. Its historical Roman monuments have been on UNESCO's World Heritage list since 1986. In 2018 Trier is celebrating the birthday of its most famous son: Karl Marx was born here on May 5, 1818. 200 years later a major exhibition on his life and work is opening in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum.

June: Leeuwarden

2018's second European Capital of Culture is less well known than Valletta: Leuwarden in West Frisia. The Frisians are proud of their obstinacy, their independence and their own language. Not only is Leeuwarden a Capital of Culture - so is the entire province, from the Wadden Sea to the woodlands. From June 1 to 10, concerts will take place in glades and on country estates.

July: Moscow

81,000 spectators will be able to watch the opening and final games of the Football World Cup (June 14 and July 15) in Luzhniki Olympic Stadium. So on a trip to Europe's biggest city you can combine one of the most important sporting events of the year with sightseeing on Red Square: shopping in the luxury department store, GUM, a visit to the Bolshoi Theatre and relaxing in Gorky Park.

August: St. Peter-Ording

During the summer holidays, many Germans go to the North Sea or the Baltic. Nowhere else in Germany is the way from the sand dunes to the water as far as it is in St. Peter-Ording: the twelve-kilometer-long beach is up to two kilometers in width. Its stilt houses are landmarks.

September: Frankfurt

On the weekend from September 28 to 30, the city on the River Main celebrates its "new old town". In the Middle Ages, Frankfurt's center was the largest on the territory of present-day Germany. In 1944 it was almost completely destroyed in a bombing raid. Since 2012, between the cathedral and Römerberg square, 35 townhouses have been built: 15 are faithful replicas and 20 are new.

October : Belfast

Lonely Planet has chosen Northern Ireland's capital and the Causeway Coast as 2018's best travel destination. If you follow its recommendation, you can enjoy the advantages of a modern city and the shapes of a unique landscape. The Causeway Coast was one of the shooting locations of the successful TV series "Game of Thrones".

November: Verdun

The First World War ended on November 11th, 1918. 100 years later museums and memorials bear witness to the devastating battle that raged for ten months during the First World War around this town in northern France and cost more than 300,000 soldiers their lives. The forest of Verdun is now a central remembrance site.

December: Berlin

The year is almost over and you haven't visited Berlin? Then it's high time! The weather in December isn't in its favor, but the Christmas decorations in the city are. And by late 2018, the central entrance building on Museum Island, the James Simon Gallery, should be finished. Let's hope that's more realistic than the opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (its latest target is 2020).

January: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Go up 2962 meters above sea level - as high as possible in Germany, in a brand spanking new cable car: it opened on December 21, 2017, and can take up to 600 people an hour to the Zugspitze. From there, when the weather is good, there is a wonderful view of the state of Bavaria, which is celebrating the hundredth anniversary of its existence in 2018.

February: Pyeongchang

If Munich's bid to host the 23rd Winter Olympics had succeeded, you could just stay in Bavaria. But the South Korean city of Pyeongchang won out. So sports-lovers should head to northeast Asia. The Olympic Winter Games are taking place in this region for the third time, from February 9 to 23.

March: Nice

While people in the German carnival strongholds Cologne, Mainz and Düsseldorf will have celebrated in mid-February, and shivered as they did, a visit to Nice's carnival promises milder temperatures. Here the celebrations last until March 3 - but the beautiful city on the Côte d'Azur is always worth a trip, and ever since the attack in July 2016, it has been grateful for faithful visitors.

April: Valletta

In April the sun shines for an average eight hours a day on Malta. The good weather, beautiful beaches, and palaces and squares in the capital make the island a popular European travel destination. In Valletta's year as a European Capital of Culture, music, dance theatre and video art join those attractions. The city is sharing the title in 2018 with Leeuwarden in the Netherlands.

May: Trier

The city on the Moselle is considered the oldest in Germany. It was founded more than 2000 years ago. Its historical Roman monuments have been on UNESCO's World Heritage list since 1986. In 2018 Trier is celebrating the birthday of its most famous son: Karl Marx was born here on May 5, 1818. 200 years later a major exhibition on his life and work is opening in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum.

June: Leeuwarden

2018's second European Capital of Culture is less well known than Valletta: Leuwarden in West Frisia. The Frisians are proud of their obstinacy, their independence and their own language. Not only is Leeuwarden a Capital of Culture - so is the entire province, from the Wadden Sea to the woodlands. From June 1 to 10, concerts will take place in glades and on country estates.

July: Moscow

81,000 spectators will be able to watch the opening and final games of the Football World Cup (June 14 and July 15) in Luzhniki Olympic Stadium. So on a trip to Europe's biggest city you can combine one of the most important sporting events of the year with sightseeing on Red Square: shopping in the luxury department store, GUM, a visit to the Bolshoi Theatre and relaxing in Gorky Park.

August: St. Peter-Ording

During the summer holidays, many Germans go to the North Sea or the Baltic. Nowhere else in Germany is the way from the sand dunes to the water as far as it is in St. Peter-Ording: the twelve-kilometer-long beach is up to two kilometers in width. Its stilt houses are landmarks.

September: Frankfurt

On the weekend from September 28 to 30, the city on the River Main celebrates its "new old town". In the Middle Ages, Frankfurt's center was the largest on the territory of present-day Germany. In 1944 it was almost completely destroyed in a bombing raid. Since 2012, between the cathedral and Römerberg square, 35 townhouses have been built: 15 are faithful replicas and 20 are new.

October : Belfast

Lonely Planet has chosen Northern Ireland's capital and the Causeway Coast as 2018's best travel destination. If you follow its recommendation, you can enjoy the advantages of a modern city and the shapes of a unique landscape. The Causeway Coast was one of the shooting locations of the successful TV series "Game of Thrones".

November: Verdun

The First World War ended on November 11th, 1918. 100 years later museums and memorials bear witness to the devastating battle that raged for ten months during the First World War around this town in northern France and cost more than 300,000 soldiers their lives. The forest of Verdun is now a central remembrance site.

December: Berlin

The year is almost over and you haven't visited Berlin? Then it's high time! The weather in December isn't in its favor, but the Christmas decorations in the city are. And by late 2018, the central entrance building on Museum Island, the James Simon Gallery, should be finished. Let's hope that's more realistic than the opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (its latest target is 2020).